“Welcome back Explorers, fans, viewers and everyone in the galaxy!
We just arrived in Mightnight Iris, witnessed the fierce battle for survival by the Tyrchidian forces, met Amethyst, their species representative and her assisting human Frank.”
Pioneer gestures towards Frank and Amethyst, who give an awkward wave in response to their introductions.
“Now, we have something truly extraordinary for you in store!
While the Tyrchid’s architecture might have looked rather plain and even rudimentary at first glance, however, you couldn't be more wrong!
Today you will be the first to see just how such homes are made, in real time!” He gestures towards the holes carved high up in the trees.
“Frank doesn’t have a home built here, yet, so we will see if we can’t fix that together with Amethyst!”
Pioneer walks backwards next to Amethyst, to get them all in the shot. But as Amethyst remains quiet, he gives her shoulder a quick jab.
“I- uhm, we will show you all the wonders of Tyrchid’s unique and exciting building process!” Amethyst tries her hardest to sound excited and cover up her nervousness.
“And the marvelous architecture, only possible with the one of a kind designers eyes, that Tyrchids’ have in spades.” Frank jokes, unusually stiffly.
“Since Frank, uh, an honorary Tyrchid, has left his home behind to live with us here, what better way to welcome him than to build him a house, preserving age old traditions.”
Amethyst remembers her barely rehearsed lines correctly.
“There you have it Explorers, now lets get this started, but first, a couple questions:
Frank, where did you live before? What sort of house was it?”
“It was actually a wooden log cottage, on some... no-name planet. So I’d imagine living inside a tree shouldn’t be too different from what I’ve used to.”
“Frank built it himself, a blue roof too, very pretty.” Amethyst chimes in with a smile.
“Oh? Explorers, you hear that? You realize what this means? Amethyst has surely been to Frank’s place!
How unexpected, these two seem to go back further than we have anticipated, but just how far, what exactly is their relationship? Stick around to find out!”
Amethyst and Frank, briefly and awkwardly exchange glances.
“So Frank, what comes first in house building?” Pioneer asks.
“Of course, the location.”
“Amethyst, tell me what is important to consider when choosing a location in these woods?” Pioneer starts walking and they follow him.
“That the hole is high enough from the ground so that Sabertigers don’t easily reach it. And of course that the tree is thick enough to carve the house inside.”
“What about this one?” The Documentarist asks, pointing to an incredibly thick and tall tree, the largest of them all.
“Doesn’t this have the hole on ground level?”
“That’s where our queen used to live.”
“H-how come the house and the entryway is so huge?” Pioneer gasps and looks up and down the entryway.
Peering inside, it's like a cave, mostly lit thanks to its massive doorway, but not even the suns could reach all of its edges. It was almost carved for the whole width of the tree.
Its interior was completely empty.
“She was about three times as big and strong as us, she could hold her own against the Sabertigers even.”
“It’s hard to imagine, but I now see what a devastating loss it must have been, I cannot stress just how sorry I am for your loss.”
“Thank you.”
Amethyst answers and Frank pats the downcast Tyrchid's shoulder and continues:
“We will build my home on ground level too, but with a much smaller entryway, it should in theory make it safe from Sabercat’s paws.”
“I see you’ve really thought this out, very good, but how do we know which tree is good, which isn’t taken yet?”
Pioneer peers high up at another tree, struggling to see high up, even with his sunglasses. The two suns relentlessly assaulted light from two different directions.
“There’s an easy way to see that, if the tree has a pile of shards below already, it taken. It’s bad etiquette to carve out multiple holes on the same side.”
“What are these shards though? Surely they are not-”
Frank interrupts Pioneer.
“They are just... discarded material from their wings”
“Fascinating. Are they safe? Tyrchid’s seem to be able to light their blades on fire and also burn up in an inferno when they… And then there were those small explosions before too”
Oh shit, they did catch the whole thing on tape didn’t they?
“No, those were my own special bombs I threw”
The all-natural bombs I picked myself…
“Ah, but do the Tyrchid’s really just throw out their garbage right on their doorstep?”
“The shards aren't dangerous, and they melt in the black rain.” Amethyst surprises herself with this knowledge.
“Explorers, have we ever seen black water before? I am not quite sure, I think we have, but never a rain. Plenty of White or Brown rain though.
This sounds exciting and dangerous.”
“It’s safe, just water.” Amethyst says.
“Is it known what makes the water turn black?”
“No, don’t think so.” Frank answers.
“So we truly are in uncharted waters here, hah, pardon my terrible humor.”
They walk around the trees of the village: Frank, Amethyst, Pioneer and his camera crew, in search of a suitable tree to start ‘renovating’.
The Tyrchids around keep their distance, but don’t seem to be otherwise annoyed or bothered by their roaming.
“Will this do Amethyst?”
Frank asks as they arrive at a tree that has only a small pile of shards on the backside, located fairly close to the Queen’s premises.
“From the state of the bark one can see that the tree has no rot or other issues that could cause it to fall if hollowed out.” Amethyst circles the tree around on the ground level.
“So just from that one can see which tree is suitable? Is it completely safe to make a house in such tree then?” Pioneer asks
“It can still fall and crush you, if you’re careless and carve it too close to the bark.”
“Oh yes, maintaining structural integrity is crucial.”
Frank ponders aloud:
“Carving a house to a tree is much easier than building one from scratch, much less regulations and other headaches.
No need to gather any materials or make any sort of foundations. Though maybe some insulation.”
Oh… right… the next time I’d build a house…
I’m sorry Velvet…
It would have been a nice homage to do.
“Frank?”
“O-of course since the house’s ceiling is the tree above and walls are bark and wood on the sides, insulation is impossible, and hardly necessary.
Only if we made windows or actual doors those could be insulated with something simple, due to the tropical climate, if for nothing else than to keep out the moisture and the rain.”
“A vet and a builder of sorts? Don’t tell me you are an actual engineer as well?”
“No… just an interest of mine, nothing more.”
“Umm… before we start… can I eat my lunch? It will take just a second.” Amethyst thinks it an appropriate moment to ask.
Pioneer appears confused by this sudden proposal.
“I’m feeling a bit tired… ever since the fight.”
“Of course. Just excuse us, it will really only take a second.”
Frank doesn't wait for Pioneer's response and lays his backpack down starting to go through its contents.
He grabs onto a fairly large lunch box, as he lifts it up, a purple, thin bone drops onto the grass from it side, pulled up by it.
“Oops.” Frank sets the box down and quickly picks up the bone.
“What is that?” Pioneer peers in closer. “Wait… is that what I think it is?”
“Oh you held on to my bone?” Amethyst says pleasantly surprised.
“Uhh, well, I didn’t know what to do with it after… Don’t really need a memorabilia when you are alive and well.” Frank slips it back into the bag.
It feels... wrong, disrespectful to just throw it away.
“Won’t it be dangerous to carry such an item here? What if it leads to misunderstandings with other Tyrchids?” Pioneer sounds almost concerned.
“I suppose you do have a point. Revealing a human bone in a city could definitely go wrong.”
“Hope you don’t have any of those in that mystery bag of yours.” Pioneer quips.
“No, I keep my actual skeletons in the closets, just like everyone else.”
“R-right. Isn’t Frank an absolute hoot, Explorers?”
Frank opens the lunchbox, takes Amethyst’s delicious looking sandwich, filled with many toppings.
Cut into two triangles, he feeds them, one by one, Amethyst grabs them with her mandibles and swallows the snacks whole.
Pioneer takes off his shades in shock and cleans them to his white sleeve, before putting them back on and turning to the camera.
“All you can eat buffet’s around the galaxy beware, once the Tyrchid’s enter our United Galaxy, none of your food will be safe.
Start planning out restrictions, quotas, any sort of countermeasures, now! Before you find the food you prepared to last the day, completely disappeared in mere seconds!”
Pioneer widely smiles at the camera, proud of his comedy routine, then turns his attention back to the stars of the show.
“Amethyst, ready to begin?”
“Yes.” Her purple gemstones start visibly glowing, easily made out even in the bright sunlight.
Her blades spew out embers that flow and flicker in the air, landing on the dry grass and fizzling out.
Soon, her hands alight completely in purple flame.
“What a magnificent sight…
But, how come the grass isn’t catching fire?”
Documentarist squats and runs his hand through some tufts.
“It’s very dry.” He rips out a handful of the red grass, showing it to the camera.
“The trees and the plants, including the grass, are incredibly fire resistant.” Amethyst says.
“Ah, an evolutionary trait, that has been necessary to acquire in order to thrive in an environment like this, no doubt.”
Amethyst starts cutting a doorway through the tough bark, the tree smolders and smokes, letting the blade cut it, but does not ignite.
Some Tyrchids in the village stop for a moment to take a look at her building process, but continue on routinely, despite the massive film crew around.
Amethyst makes a rectangle, about 10 cm deep and a bit higher than Frank using her short dagger hands.
She then uses a long elbow blade to run it underneath the bark, up and down, the bark pops out in an intact piece.
“Maybe this will work as a door?” Amethyst shoves the bark plate, with the bits of her arms not on fire, towards Frank.
“You humans seem to enjoy having them quite a bit.”
She then returns to work, starting to remove the larger doorway’s main bits of wood in smaller cube like portions.
“Hmm, yes this should probably work.” Frank inspects the still slightly smoking piece, and almost gets his fingers burned from the lingerings heat.
Though still getting the tips of his fingers black from the soot.
“Oh, the tree remains alive, even after the carving right? Does the tree not grow from the floor and try to reclaim the space you’ve made?”
“It tries to, that’s why the floor has to be charred properly so it won’t be able to grow through it. The... procedure...? has to be repeated regularly.”
“Living inside of a living thing… what a harmonious concept. Dear Explorers, this is what it really looks to be one with the nature.
Not even killing it for housing, living in symbiosis, I’d imagine the shards give the trees nutrients and in turn they give Tyrchids a house, a safe haven.”
“Killing the tree would be a big mistake, it would rot and become unusable as a house eventually.
Sabertigers could crash into it to bring it down, or the elements would. Dead trees also lose quite a bit of their fire resistance.”
Amethyst carves out deep lines into the wood, surrounding an area in them, before using his curved hand blades to cut behind it, to take out squares of wood.
“Ah, how interesting, there really is much more to think, than just simply carving out a house in any old tree.”
Pioneer, Frank and Amethyst chat, while the house begins to take shape. Amethyst struggles somewhat to get it started, the smaller entryway being a challenge.
Limiting her access inside, forcing her to squeeze and take awkward positions. As well as restricting the sizes of wood pieces she can carve out.
“Hmm… Amethyst, if you can, try to take out pieces that can be used as furniture. Like round log chairs, or cubes, are probably fine as well.”
“Okay. I think I can manage that.” Amethyst says, stabs another small cube carved off the inside of the tree and throws it outside.
She’s now half a meter inside the doorway, making a deeper cut to carve out bigger blocks.
They continue for some time, until the conversation and entertainment value of it seems to fizzle out for now.
“This has been just a small look into Midnight Iris' new sapient species vying for ISSA’s attention.
Thank you all for watching! Explorers, and everyone else, make sure to tune in tomorrow, at the usual time, we have so much more in store to still show you!”
A brief moment later, Pioneer claps his hands together.
“Good show people! Now get some well earned rest.”
The film crew drives the equipment off into the forest, some stay around for clean up and other various tasks, most however leave immediately.
“Amethyst, Frank, a word.”
Pioneer approaches the duo, who talk about something, standing before Frank’s upcoming home. They turn to look at him in surprise.
“I think we are off to a crackin’ start, but that said… I do have some worries.
We might have a hard time attracting viewers or making enough episode with this format.
Once the actual building starts to be the only content, I’d imagine it will be hard to be made entertaining, if you’ve got any further ideas, I’m all ears.”
“Hmm, that’s a tough one. Building furniture and somewhat designing the interior can be done, but probably won’t be anything riveting…
And that can’t really be started before the house itself is sufficiently carved.”
“I may have something…” Amethyst says unsure.
“I’m all ears for any ideas, pitch it to me.”
“I’ll uh, pitch, it to you tomorrow, okay? We gotta talk it through a bit first...”
“Fine, fine, we’ll discuss it before the shooting starts. Now, go and get some rest too, my stars will need to be fully energized for tomorrow.”
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A weird salute-wave hand gesture later, he starts walking away, but stops and turns around almost immediately.
“Oh, By the way, we took up residence in the large empty building over yonder. That’s fine with you I assume?”
“Uh, right. Sure?” Amethyst responds unprepared.
“Nice to see you’ve already started modernizing this place, if little by little. When’s the grand opening of the hotel?”
“… Hotel?” Frank answers lost.
“We just talked about it, try to keep up.”
“Ohh… Umm, maybe after we get ISSA approved?” Frank improvises.
“Well, I hope so, I might come to visit personally, after all’s said and done. If I find myself with some vacation time on my hands that is...”
Pioneer leaves the duo for real this time, chatting up some personnel still at the village instead, mainly, a pair of nurses.
----------------------------------------
Amethyst and Frank head back to the clinic for the time being, walking through the colorful forest, in the growing dusk, following the same trail they cut through initially.
Being led by Emerald into the village, felt like such a long time ago by now.
Amethyst hangs her hands to her sides as she walks slowly, allowing herself to take smaller steps, and a slower pace.
Though its still quite enough to keep up with Frank's puny human legs.
“I’m so tired…”
“Because you had to burn your flames so much, or due to acting?
“Both… But, what is acting… exactly? I’m not sure I still understand.”
“Hmm, playing a role, if that makes sense. Pretending to be someone else to tell a story, becoming another person temporarily. I think that’s a good summary?”
“Well, it sounds like lying, to yourself and others.”
“It’s not like that, everyone knows its not real. The people up on stages or shows aren’t really what they appear to be. It's harmless.”
“So, its lying, but everyone knows they're lying?”
An unknown itch in her mind tries to force her hand to scratch her head, but she suppresses such a dangerous craving.
“I don’t get it.”
“Well, don’t worry, this is reality-TV, almost zero acting required, we can just be ourselves.”
“I see, that's good.”
Frank looks up into the sky, the twin suns were soon to set for the first time after he arrived here, the day really was much longer here than in Viridian Macula.
“So Amethyst, what was your idea?” He decides to ask, as Amethyst didn't seem very forthcoming at the moment.
“I was wondering if… if we could somehow teach my kin, would it be too obvious they are… not like me?”
“Teach them? They did overall seem... reasonable now, much calmer and friendlier too.”
That... event, comes to his mind, but its memory is no longer debilitating.
Though, he still didn’t wish to forget it. Jack and Jill, despite having made their choices, deserved to be remembered.
“Are you okay Frank?”
“Yeah. About you're idea, I’m not sure, but maybe its possible to educate them. It is risky to draw more attention to them though”
“Because of ISSA?”
Frank silently nods.
“Why are they helping us really? Just saying their name seemed to scare the humans before. Are they bad?”
“No no, not at all” The vehement waving of Frank’s hands try to take care of the misunderstanding on their own.
“Their mission is to shield and shelter all sapient species of the galaxy, even going as far as fighting for them and their rights”
“Why would they do that? Humans don’t just help unless they get something out of it... Except you Frank”
“R-right…” Frank answers solemnly.
“Well... they see all Sapient species as precious, as enriching the galaxy further.
All races, for example, have a right for a home planet.
If any outside forces try to wage war on them, to capture their home, ISSA will deal with them, by whatever means necessary.”
“How come you know so much about them?” Amethyst asks, but her question is ignored as Frank continues.
“However they don’t interfere with conflicts that happen anywhere else, unless the existence of a sapient species is at stake”
Frank hops over a large sticking out root.
“So, if Tyrchids were already a registered Sapient species with them, they’d come to kick Intergalactic Resources or any other force we’d deem hostile off Midnight Iris.
Can’t really ask for better insurance.”
“They do all of this, while asking for nothing in return?”
“Well, Pioneer did ask what Tyrchids can contribute to the galaxy, but mostly yes, though they seem to have made the application process harder and different over the years…”
“What was it like before then?” Amethyst asks as they break out of the forest, arriving at the top of the quarry.
“A lot more paper work and bureaucracy hoops to hop through, but as long as you filled it all correctly, the trip to the court was more of a formality than any sort of real trial”
I hope that’s still the case...
“And this sort of goofing off certainly wouldn't have flown back then. A serious documentary, if anything.”
“You seem to know a lot about ISSA…?” Amethyst asks with curious eyes.
“Well… not that much, I mean I used to… most of that’s probably obsolete information by now.”
“Why?”
“As we saw today, things have changed a lot since the time I dreamed of working for them. Hah, never even got invited to a job interview now that I think about it..."
Even then, their history was shrouded in mystery… never really paid attention to it then though.
“Oh?”
“Maybe I’ll tell you more later, we are here now”
They arrive down the slope to the clinic.
“Let’s ask Grent’s opinion on the plan to teach the Tyrchids”
----------------------------------------
Amethyst and Frank find Grent in the kitchen, Pineapple, nowhere to be seen.
They explain what happened today.
“The ISSA is here already!? How are they so fast!”
Do they know?
“Did anyone, anything else arrive, just the film crew?”
Grent quickly gets up from the table, like covertly running away as the two sit down.
“Yeah just them, at least we didn't see anyone else.”
“Why?” Amethyst follows up.
“No reason, I was just curious”
So they must not be here for me after all.
And I doubt they’d tell the camera crew anything.
Amethyst's thin black eyebrows raise and her many eyes observe him.
“A-anyway, better not bring them here, you know, all sort of dangerous technology here, wouldn't want them accidentally documenting any formulas or blueprints for the mind ray… or stuff...
Right?”
“Yeah…” Frank answers slowly.
“So anyway, you managed to not only, sort of, speak with the Tyrchids and gain their trust, they also did not attack the film crew... Maybe it is possible…”
Grent stops to ponder, after he deposits his plates into the sink.
“What’s possible?”
Grent turns around and explains intrigued.
“Your idea, educating them, I mean.
If they were just pure instinct they wouldn’t have adapted to the changing situation so quickly and apparently without much issue.
So they must be capable of at least some form of independent thought, have their own personalities maybe… own quirks, be their own persons”
“We were thinking of starting their teaching tomorrow, do a sort of school classroom setup.”
“Already? Under the watchful eyes of film cameras?”
“Yeah, it's a pretty good opportunity to... hopefully, display their intelligence or at least give the impression of one.”
His choice of words cause Amethyst to frown.
“Well, you better hope they don’t catch onto that they aren’t exactly intelligent and sophisticated like Amethyst. Casting the spotlight on them so directly is dangerous”
He glances back as he opens the third door of the kitchen, to a place Frank and Amethyst have not gone before.
The strange word catches her interest, positive in meaning at least, she thought.
“Am I sophisticated Frank?”
Frank is about to answer but Grent cuts him out and grins.
“Sorry, I meant to say domesticated.”
Amethyst mouth hangs open.
“Is that bad?”
“Well, kind of?”
“Grent!”
He’s already leaving through the door at the back of the kitchen before turning back again, leaning to the barely open door.
“Oh right, please take Pineapple with you tomorrow and teach it to speak too… So I can make sure it understands exactly what I’ve said to it…”
“And what would that be?” Frank asks a bit worried.
“It’s nothing good I can assure you, how am I supposed to get any research done with this menace darting around the place crashing into everything”
Merely speaking of it seems to get Grent riled up.
“And just when I think it’s over it’ll meow so loud my ears are still ringing. If I can’t hear you tomorrow anymore, you know why.
Not even mentioning of the constant flashes of light, its nails and teeth! How am I supposed to boot it out of my lab with all of its arsenal!"
“Pineapple? No he’d never do anything like that, doesn’t sound like him at all” Frank says with a big grin of sarcasm.
“And I thought normal cats were bad…” Grent says.
“Is Pineapple not a normal cat?” Amethyst asks genuinely oblivious.
“Of course not! It’s not even a cat, some sort of demon spawn maybe…
On second thought, don’t teach Pineapple to speak… for all I know they’ll apply for ISSA’s protection too and the next thing I know the whole galaxy is infested with them…”
“Solarophones”
“What?”
“Their species”
“What sort of nonsense is that?”
"-"
“Don’t answer that. I don’t care” Just as Grent’s about to shut the door behind him, Frank says one last thing.
“Oh, right, I’ll use your laun-dry machine, I trust that’s fine?”
“Sure, just use and do whatever you need, as long as you stay out of my lab” He blurts without much thought, annoyed at being bothered.
Grent slowly closes the door, just his face visible from the thin crack.
“I’ll lock myself to my room now to sleep… Do not disturb me..."
At least one fiend can’t get through steel doors…
Grent slams the door shut.
Rubbing his aching eyes, he walks down the lone corridors towards his quarters.
It’s just the ISSA film crew...
I’ll be fine…
----------------------------------------
“The next film shooting is in 9 hours, maybe we should sleep too?”
A clock on the kitchen wall was a 12 hour one, though Frank yielded that he had failed to check it when they left, he had no idea how long they had been out.
His communication device was in a totally different, Viridian Macula, time still too.
The clock was now 20:00, or 8 pm, whatever that meant.
At least he knew the shooting would start at… 5 am?
Thanks to a follow up email from Pioneer with a Galactic Time Display -countdown for their next filming session.
It would just about be dawn then? Did the film crew know the daylight cycle of the planet, he wondered.
“I don’t usually sleep this much… but I’m so tired…” Amethyst interrupts his thoughts and yawns loudly.
Her mandibles come out of her mouth during it, shivering and stretching along with her jaw’s movement.
Amethyst catches Frank staring.
“What?”
“I… just didn’t think you could yawn”
“Of course I can yawn… Right? Should I not be able to yawn?” Her tone takes a turn as she doubts herself.
“No no, most animals yawn, so it’s to be expected”
“But you still didn’t expect it?” Amethyst asks puzzled.
“Ugh, never mind, let’s just grab a bite and go sleep”
“But what about this… land-rye machine?”
“Laun-dry. Its used to wash dirty clothes, like those stained with banaorange juice” Frank smirks.
“Nowadays the machines also automatically dry them too, hence the name”
“Oh… that’s too bad”
“Hah. I can’t go around smelling fruity forever. Anyway, I guess I forgot to eat my packed lunch today, so I’ll have that and something more maybe”
Frank puts the container from his bag onto the table and goes to check the fridge’s contents.
“What would you like Amethyst? Bread, Toast or a sandwich, some variation of those?”
I should really talk with Grent, where does he even get all his food – and why – is it all bread?
“Anything you make is fine”
“Alrighty then, plain toast it is, who needs any butter or toppings anyway”
“Hey!”
----------------------------------------
A power nap later, Grent gets up from his bed in his private quarters. A small reinforced steel room, filled with all sorts of important and personal junk.
Bits and pieces he hauled with him in his own ship around wherever he went. He was glad Amethyst allowed him to stay, most of this would have been left behind otherwise.
Grent hated moving, it took a half a day or more to haul all of his stuff around. Though that depended on how much he had unloaded in the first place.
Amande had always complained: “This is supposed to be a passenger, not a cargo ship!” Due to his hoarding, the ship barely fit the two of them inside.
But that is all it amounted to; complaining. She had also started to hoard some of her own motors, metal plates and pipes, random electronics, just discreetly adding them to his pile over time.
They had benefited from their hoarding, many a time before, salvaging a spaceship wreck, or a lost colony’s premises, many, many useful components could be found.
You’d never know when some improvised repairs were needed to keep the space outside the ship, to not get stranded in the infinite emptiness.
Digging through a pile, finding a handful of useful computer parts, Grent then picks out some wires from an actually, in order, small desk drawer style box.
Hmm, is this all I need to finish her central circuitry?
He assures himself, that everything else needed was already gathered in the lab, gyroscope, the processors, memory chips, motherboard…
Maybe I should wire up the legs first, to make sure I’ve got enough juice to power the whole thing, don’t wanna have to redo the chassis too many times due to underestimations...
Grent squeezes the parts in his fist and decides to just get on with it, opening the heavy metal door with an ID and stepping into the corridor.
He walks down the long plain corridors, an extreme silence around.
Only the echo of his steps and the faint noise of the air conditioning growing louder and then quieter again, as he passed ventilation shaft’s grates.
He enters the main lobby and hears a clatter, a small metal can rolls around the floor. Droplets of sweat ooze onto his brow and Grent takes off into a run towards his lab’s door.
He had to be fast.
Arriving at the panel, he frantically swipes the ID card on the door, it couldn't open any slower if it tried.
In the back of his neck, he can feel it approaching, getting ever closer, ready to pounce.
As soon as Grent can fit through, he squeezes inside and presses the door close button.
Intense and on edge, he surveys the lobby area through the ever-narrowing doorway.
It could not be seen anywhere.
As the door closes with a silent whirr, without it managing to get inside the lab, his shoulders drop with a sigh.
But as he turns around, the surprise feels like it might just be his demise.
“Aagh!”
Pineapple sits there right in front of him, not even looking at him, nonchalantly just existing.
Grent clutches a fist and feels like shouting.
He had not escaped the beast after all.
“I-I’ll allow you to stay, just d-don’t get in my way!”
Grent tells the cat, who gives a sideways glance at him.
“Please?”
Grent carefully goes around it and lays down the small parts and wires he brought, onto the metal table.
On it, two human sized robotic legs, ball jointed knees and feet, aluminum plating covering all the circuitry with hatches that could be screwed open.
Above those, a large chest chassis, thin hips form into a Y-shape with the rest of the chest. The large chest cavity was empty, already screwed open.
All of the limbs still unconnected, very much in progress.
It was still unpainted and a bit crude looking, his own, if a bit rudimentary design.
Back in their home planet with Amande, he had taken the first steps in building his own robot.
Intending to introduce them as a potential workforce, to seek funding from the mining company that had arrived there.
He never did though. The project took way too long, and the gloss of this “savior corporation” soon turned into stains in everyone's lives.
The robot was functional, or had been, it had run out of battery and fallen into disrepair along the years. This robot body was one of the more larger baggage he towed around the galaxy.
The rest of its parts still in his ship, they were quite heavy to transport after all, it was much easier to take it apart, limb by limb and then re-assemble it in a proper workspace.
With a toolbox next to the legs, on the table, he started screwing panels open and working on the old electronics inside.
As he grabbed a part from the stack he brought, it fought back, it didn’t want to come with him.
Grent pulled and looked for the source of this strange phenomenon, to find Pineapple hanging onto the wire attached to it, with its paw.
Pulling it up and down, side to side, to try and shake the cat off, but it just grasped at the wire with its other paw and held on tighter.
“Let go, you fleabite!”
Grent shakes it more fiercely, in response, Pineapple blinds him, the whole lab lights up like mid-day and he looses the grip on the part.
“Aah! Why are you doing this?!” Grent rubs his eyes and shouts in frustration.
Pineapple runs under the operating table, carrying the part in its mouth.
“Give it back!”
Grent dashes after the cat dazed, but is much too slow to catch it, as the cat slips underneath a large metal cabinet.
He gets on his knees and looks underneath, at the shiny narrow eyes in the darkness.
“What is your objective? To be a nuisance? To make me go mad with rage!?”
There is no response.
“Argh!”
Grent gets up and surrenders, sitting down to his chair, spinning a few laps on it from the force he collapsed on it.
Maybe I should just give up…
Actually get some proper sleep… then somehow lure the cat somewhere else and lock myself into my lab forever...
Until its done.
Grent sighs and leans forwards, sinking his head to his hands.
It was all so close, he could almost feel the grasp of Amande’s hand on his shoulder.
Hear her laughter, the almost pitying, but humorous smile, she would give him in this situation.
And imagine the useless, but loving advice, she dished out on the regular:
“Oh dear, my little smart-man, don’t give up. It’s only a cat, try keeping your eyes closed the next time”
“But I can’t just keep my eyes closed the whole time I work, can I?” I’d respond to her.
Then, I’d think of a solution after our exchange.
“Maybe I do have the old ISSA shades around somewhere still...”
The sound of something dropping onto the floor echoes.
Grent finds the way back to reality from his nostalgic thoughts.
Pineapple sits before him, licking its paws, the stolen part on the ground before it.
“Have you came back to taunt me?
I’m not dumb, I can see a setup as obvious as this from a light-year away.
As soon as I stand up, you're going to grab that part again in your grubby jaws and run headlong into my delicate equipment, wrecking it, before hiding.”
Grent demonstrates his hypothesis by standing up from the chair, only to see the cat not react.
“So you think yourself faster than me? Is that it? Who can grab the part first, huh?”
He was going to beat it in its own game, show Pineapple who’s the boss around here.
Grent measures up the cat, like in a laser pistol shoot-out, looking for any signs of it reaching to pick up the part.
Finally, his nemesis makes a move and Grent reaches for the part as fast as he could, only to stop halfway there.
The cat just walks away, seeming completely uninterested in the part.
The Solarophone gives Grent a small berth, sauntering towards him and jumping onto the soft chair he was sitting on previously.
Grent calmly picks up the part and looks at the cat, curled up on the chair, its eyes closed.
What? Why?
He could understand all sorts of scientific formulas, strange notations and technologies of the past, grasp all sorts of principals and conduct complicated experiments.
Grent had even understood Amande's logic and actions, most of the time, which was no mean feat.
But this cat... defied all logic, eluded understanding.
Why did it torment him so? What had he done to deserve such treatment?
Or maybe there was no reason, it was just an animal of the highest annoyance, of the least control. A feline.
There were times, occurrences, that contradicted his conclusion, it didn’t satisfy his subconscious. Evidence pointing otherwise was rife.
It wasn’t just a cat, it couldn't be.
Almost like it had taken pity on him just before. A behavior, he had not seen from this shiny-furred menace before.
Pondering these questions in his mind, he gets to work, peace and quiet finally fallen in his lab, at long last.